Combination soap dispensing device and hand drier



April 18, 1950 SIEGEL 2,504,740

COMBINATION SOAP DISPENSING DEVICEAND HAND DRIER Filed May 12, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l I I I l I I 1 l I IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYJ) April 18, 1950 SIEGEL 2,504,74'0

COMBINATION SOAP DISPENSING DEVICE AND HAND DRIER Filed May 12, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. LOU/S L S/EGEL April 18, 1950 SIEGEL 2,504,740

COMBINATION SOAP DISPENSING DEVICE AND HAND DRIER Filed May 12, 1947 3 SheetsSheet 3 INVENTOR. Ii- 4 00m L. S/fGZ BY 134 fiflciv jy ATTOENEY8- Patented Apr. 18 195 6 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATION SOAP DISPENSING DEVICE AND HAND DRIER 4 Claims.

washrooms, to provide devices for dispensing soap in granulated form for toilet use. These devices generally consist of a container having a metering valve in the lower part thereto for discharging a relatively small quantity of gran" ulated s'oap when the valve is operated. These dispensers, however, are quite unsatisfactory in that granulated soap will, due to the collection of moisture therein by condensation and absorption, become lumpy or form cakes which will not flow from the container, rendering the dispenser useless until an attendant can break up the lumps. Many attempts have been made to correct this fault by rendering the soap free flowing regardless of moisture. Generally, certain chemicals are intermixed with the soap, but these chemicals are expensive and render the soap unde sirable.

Another limitation of the usual soap dispenser is that some users prefer certain brands of soap which may be available in bar form only and these dispensers are useless in such cases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a soap dispensing mechanism which not only assures that the granulated soap will be main tained in free flowing condition without the ad dltion of foreign chemicals to the soap, but which will also act upon bar soap to granulate the same so that the desired kind of soap may be employed whether it is in granulated or bar form.

Another object of the invention is to provide a soap dispensing device which has power driven mechanism for either granulating bar soap or for breakin up previously granulated soap so that a free flow of granulated soap may be delivered from a chute to the user's hands, and in which an air blower is also driven by the power mechanism for furnishing a hot air blast for drying the hands.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device for dispensing soap through a tube, means being provided for preventing the accumulation or adhesion of soap to the walls of the discharge chute.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the soap dispensing and hand drying device, certain parts of the device being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the device taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the device showing the device mounted on a wall;

Fig. 4 is a view in section taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 2, but on a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a view in section taken on line '5-5 of Fig. 4;

Figs. 6 and '7 are perspective views, respectively, of two soap dispensing valve members; and

Fig. 8 is a wiring diagram for the device.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a con1- bination soap dispensing and hand drying device is). The device HE is preferably enclosed in a suit able housing indicated at H, which housing may be formed in any suitable manner, and in the drawings it is shown in a more or less diagran1- matic form. The housing is formed of a bottom wall 52, front and rear walls l3 and i l, and end walls l5 and Hi. The top of the housing it is adapted to be closed by a cover ll, which may be removably secured to the housing by any suit able means, not shown. The end wall i5 is provided with a circular opening l8 for admitting air to a blower within the housing, and preferably the opening HE is covered by a grill indicated at H).

The housing M is attached to a wall by suitable brackets, not shown, and for the sake of convenience it is desirable to mount the device ill immediately above or adjacent to a wash bowl.

A soap container 22 is mounted inside the housing on a bracket 23 which is secured to the bot tom wall E2 of the housing. The container is preferably formed of a rectangular box-like structure open at the top and having sloping walls 24 at the bottom. Preferably, a cover 25 is provided for the top of the container and it is desirable to provide a locking device, not shown, for securing the cover in place. The lower edges of the walls 24 are spaced from one another and a sleeve 25 extends lengthwise of the space be tween the two lower edges of the sloping Walls and it is attached to these lower edges, by welding. The sleeve 28 is provided with two rectangular openings 27 and El formed in the top and bottom thereof through which soap granules may pass. A rod-like valve member 30 is rotatably positioned in the sleeve 26 and it is secured therein by a nut 3| threaded on one end thereof and a gear wheel 32 secured on a stem portion. 33 of the rod. The gear wheel may be keyed to the rod 30.

The rod Bil is provided with grooves 35 and 35 on opposite sides thereof, which grooves are in registration with the openings 2i in the sleeve when the rod 8% is rotated to the proper degree. As may be seen in Fig. when groove 35 is exposed to the soap in the container through the upper opening 2 the groove 35' will be in a position to discharge soap through the lower opening 27' in the sleeve.

A discharge chute 35 is attached to the bottom walls 24 of the container and it surrounds the lower opening 21 in the sleeve 26 for directing the soap downwardly to a forwardly and downwardly extending tube 31 which is attached to the chute 36 and which extends through an opening in the front wall 13 of the housing for discharging soap on to the hands of the user.

The stem 33 of the rod 36 extends outwardly through the front wall it of the housing and a handle 38 is attached to the stem. Also attached to the stem 33 is a hammer member it,- which is.

provided with a head part 4| that is adapted to strike the side of the tube 3? when the handle 38 is rotated clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1. purpose of this hammer member is to dislodge any soap granules which may adhere to the walls of the tube 31. A tension spring 42 is attached at one end to the. hammer member it and the other end to the bottom of the housing l l. lhe spring 42 and hammer d6 normally maintain the valve rod 33 in the angular position indicated in Fig. so that the groove will be in a position to be filled with soap granules after the handle 38 is released by the operator. When the handle 38 is depressed to rotate the valve rod 39 counter-clockwise as viewed in Fig. l, the groove 35- will be rotated to discharge soap therein through the lower opening 21 in the sleeve and the opposite groove 35 will be in a position to receive soap through the upper opening 2's in the sleeve. Then when the handle 38 is released the groove 35 will be moved tothe position shown in Fig. 5 to discharge its soap through the lower opening 2'! as the handle 38 returns to its normal inoperative position. Preferably, the counter-clockwise rotation of handle 38 is limited by a screw which projects laterally from the nut iii and which is adapted to engage a stop 36 attached to the support bracket 23.

In order to maintain the soap in the container 22 in a free flowing granular state, I h ve provided a helical member at in the container immediately above and parallel to the sleeve 25, and the helical member preferably consists of a wire spring mounted on a rod.- 49 journalled in the front and rear walls of the container 22. The forward end of the rod 69 projects through the front wall of the soap container and has a gear pinion 50 attached thereto which meshes with the gear wheel 32. handle 38', gear 32 drives the pinion 523 which rotates rod 69 and causes the helical member 48 to agitate and break up any lumpy soap-particles immediately above the opening 2 1 in the sleeve 26. It will be apparent that the member 5 3 will be rotated in opposite directions when the handle 38 is lowered and raised during a soap dispensing operation. Thus, the soap in the container 22 at the opening 2-! will be maintained in a free flowing condition by the action of the member 48.

It is often desirable to obtain the soap ranules from a bar of soap, and for this purpose a rotary soap cutter 52 is mounted in the soap container 22 and is driven by an electrical motor. The cutter 52 is shown consisting of a flanged wheel structure having a number of blades 53 formed from the flanged portion of the wheel. The blades 53 are formed by cutting slots in the flange of the wheel and twisting the cut portions to extend radially and thereby provide cutting edges extending parallel to the axis of the wheel. The cutter 52 is mounted on an axle 54 which extends through the rear wall of the container 22 and the axle 54 is driven by an electric motor 55 through The As the valve rod is rotated by r a suitable gear reduction box 56. The soap bar is placed in the container through the open top and rides on the peripheral blades of the cutter. Preferably, a weight is. placed on the soap to press it on'tlie blades. When the cutter rotates the soap bar is shaved and these particles drop to the lower part of the container and are broken into granules by the member 48.

Powdered or granulated soap may be used instead of bar soap. In this instance the cutter wheel 52 will maintain the soap in its powdered conditio and it is evident that either type of soap may be used, as desired.

The motor 55 is supported on two cross-members 51 of the housing I I, one end of the armature shaft of the motor being connected to the gear reduction box 56 and the opposite end having a centrifugal blower 58 mounted thereon.

The blower 58 is shrouded by a suitable housing 55 having a central opening 60 at one side thereof for admitting air to the blower and having a nozzle structure 62 leading to the front wall l3 of the housing l I and in registration with an opening in the front wall. The housing 59 is supported by a bracket 6 I.

A tubular elbow or deflector 63 is attached to the front wall in registration with the outlet of the nozzle 62 for directing air from the blower downwardly on to the hands of the user. Preferably, an electrical heater unit, shown diagrammatically at 65, is mounted in the nozzle structure 62 for heating the air as it passes to the deflector 63. The electrical unit includes a resistance wire 66 mounted on a suitable insulator, the details of which are not shown, as such is well known in the art, and one end of the resistance wire is connected to a wire 33 and the other end to a wire 69. The resistance wire is connected in parallel circuit with the motor 55 and both motor and resistance are controlled by a treadle actuated switch 12.

In order to maintain the soap granules in the container 22 dry to prevent caking or lumping, I have provided an air conduit it, one end of which extends into the nozzle structure 62 and the opposite end of which extendsinto a side wall of the soap container 22 beneath the soap cutter 52. The end of the tube 35 extending into the nozzle structure 62 is cut diagonally so that a scoop effect is provided for directing air into the tube. It will be noted that the air intake of the tube 15 is disposed to receive heated air so that the soap in the container will be dried more effectively.

In operation, the device may be attached to any suitable support, and in the present instance I have shown it attached to a wall. Power for the motor and heater element is supplied through a cord and plug it which may be connected in the building outlet socket. The circuit for the motor and the heater element 65 is controlled by switch i2 which is adapted to be actuated by a rod 'i-l' which may be raised by a treadle I8 mounted on a bracket 19 on the floor. When the treadle i3 is depressed switch 12 is closed, com pleting a circuit from a wire of the power supply line to motor winding 8! and back to the wire 82 of the power circuit, and the heater 55 is connected in parallel with the motor by the wires 38 and 39. The power wires to and 82 are part of the plug and cord indicated at 16.

It will be seen that when the device is used for drying the hands the soap cutter will be operated to granulate soap from a bar and heated air would be supplied to the soap container 22 to maintain the soap in free flowing condition. When the 5 soap dispenser is used the helical member 40 is actuated to further granulate the soap in the container and the hammer 40 maintains the discharge tube 31 free of soap particles. In the event granulated soap is used instead of bar soap, the cutter wheel 52 will agitate the granules to prevent lumping. Thus, I have provided a device which is exceptionally adaptable for washrooms and the like which will dispense soap under all conditions and at a minimum cost. Also, towels may be dispensed with which will provide material savings.

This application is a continuation in part of my aplication, Serial Number 659,390, filed April 3, 1946, now abandoned.

Although I have described but one form of the invention it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all falling within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a combination soap dispensing device and hand dryer, a soap container having valve mechanism for discharging soap from the container; an air blower; a shroud structure associated with the blower for directing a stream of air in one path; a heating device in the shroud structure for warming air blown by the blower; and a conduit interconnecting the soap container and shroud structure for directing warm air from the blower into the soap container.

2. In a soap dispensing device, a soa container having an outlet for soap at the bottom thereof; a valve at said outlet comprising a cylindrical member disposed transversely of the outlet and having an opening in one wall thereof, said cylindrical member having an axially extending part thereon; a handle on said part of the valve member for rotating the valve member about its axis; a soap dispensing chute disposed beneath said cylindrical member and having its inlet in alignment with said opening in the cylindrical member when the latter member is rotated about its axis; a striker arm attached to said valve member and extending laterally therefrom, said striker arm being adapted to strike the chute when the cylindrical valve member is rotated to a position in which the opening in said member is upwardly;

and means resiliently urging said member to the last mentioned position.

3. In a soap dispensing device, a soap container having an outlet for soap at the bottom thereof; a chute leading from said chute downwardly; a valve at the inlet of said chute, said valve including an actuating member, and being adapted to receive soap from the container and to empty soap into the chute when the valve is actuated; an arm attached to a moving part of said valve, said arm being adapted to engage said chute when the valve is in the soap receiving position and to be removed from the chute when the valve is actuated to its soap discharging position; and resilient means for urging said valve to the soap receiving position whereby said arm strikes said chute when the valve actuating member is released from the valve actuating position, said arm and chute forming a stop for positioning said valve.

4. In a combination soap dispensing device and hand drier, a soap container having means associated therewith for discharging soap from the container; an air blower structure; a heating device in said blower structure for warming air activated by the blower; and a passageway interconnecting the soap container and blower structure for directing warm air from the blower into the soap container.

LOUIS L. SIEGEL.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 135,846 Reames Feb. 11, 1873 420,385 Horan Jan. 28, 1890 445,769 Chamberlin Feb. 3, 1891 472,020 Acker Apr. 5, 1892 1,494,883 Bassett May 20, 1924 1,608,718 Boyle Nov. 30, 1926 1,645,308 Stern et a1 Oct. 11, 1927 1,908,882 Birkenbeuel May 16, 1933 2,174,348 Diamond Sept. 26, 1939 2,208,335 Kurtz July 16, 1940 

